Log inSign up for FREE
Library

Declaration of Independence - Explain Concepts

Last updated over 5 years ago
19 questions
Note from the author:
Close Read of the Declaration of Independence

Directions:
1. Using your dictionary, look up the following words.
2. Add definitions in the space provided.
3. Use each word in an original sentence
1

Impel

1

Use impel in a sentence:

1

endow

1

Use endow in a sentence:

1

derive

1

Use derive in a sentence:

1

consent

1

Use consent in a sentence:

1

usurpation

1

Use usurp or usurpation in a sentence:

1

absolute

1

Use absolute in a sentence:

1

dissolve

1

Use dissolve in a sentence:

Read the following excerpts from the Declaration of Independence and answer the questions below. Answer all questions in your own words!
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the
political bands which have connected them with another,...a decent respect to the opinions of
mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
1

What “political bands” are the writers referring to in paragraph above?

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness.
1

Look at the paragraph above. List three rights the Declaration says cannot be taken away.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just
powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute
new Government.
1

According to the paragraph above, where do governments get their power?

The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and
usurpations, all having, in direct object, the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these
States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.
1

According to the paragraph above, what was the king’s purpose in taking away the colonists’ rights?

(We) solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be
Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown,
and that all political connection between them and that State of Great Britain, is and ought to be
totally dissolved.
1

Read the paragraph above. When does the Declaration say the colonies would be independent?